Monday, 15 July 2013

Patients
are about to be targeted like never before by advertising companies as face
recognition software merges with information screens to profile your interests
as you wait for your doctor.

LordSugar is on the verge of selecting one
more hard-nosed apprentice to his entrepreneurial stable as his Apprentice
programme reaches its latest conclusion this Wednesday. Quite what work the
eventual winner will undertake is unclear but a previous winner was selected
to run the sales of a project that profiles patients in the NHS as they sit and
wait for their GP.

Amscreen
Plc is part of Lord Sugar’s Amshold Group of companies, which is based
in the tax haven of Jersey and is overseen by his son Simon Sugar, who is the
CEO. The company, which launched in 2008 when Lord Sugar bought Comtech M2M, provides T.V screens into places where there is a captive
audience and places targeted marketing alongside the other content the
organisation may use. These screens are placed
in GP surgeries, hospitals and dentists throughout the UK and in Europe
and also in petrol stations, convenience stores.

Tuesday, 2 July 2013

1.Change the NHS from within: New research conducted by Social
Investigations has revealed a Head Hunter firm with financial links to a
Conservative Baroness has been able to gain revenue directly from changes that
took place because of the Health and Social Care Act on which the Baroness
voted. Furthermore, the Chairman of the company has funded the Conservative
party in a process that changes the NHS from within. Full story...

2.“Nothing Short of Corruption”: The House of Commons have just hosted a
second debate on lobbying, following the recent scandal to envelop parliament
and once more soil the already tarnished reputation of UK politics. In
the debate, which was on the introduction of a statutory register of lobbyists,
the Labour MP for Easington, Grahame Morris, chose to highlight the breadth of
healthcare interests held by MPs and Lords; the first time this research has
entered into parliamentary discussion. Full story...

3.2020health Think Tank:
Documents released by the Department of Health under the Freedom of Information
Act reveal a healthcare think tank with multiple links to coalition peers wants
to turn the NHS into an “asset” of “UK Plc” - and which suggests the government
needs to “charm” private healthcare “international corporations”. Full story...

4. Earl
Howe: The Parliamentary Under secretary for Health Earl Howe, who led the
Health and Social Care bill proceedings in the House of Lords, was listed as a
patron for pro-market think tank 2020health, just before the elections. Full story...

5. Lobbying Moves In-House - Nick
Seddon: Number 10 welcomes Nick Seddon, former lobbyist and private healthcare
advocate, into Downing Street to lead on
health policy formation. What does this say about Cameron’s real attitude to
the lobbying game he has publicly decried? And what kind of policies will
Seddon be pushing now? There are good reasons to be concerned. Full story...

6. Breaking
the code – the Healthcare Chain:The Members’ financial interests
represent every stage of the healthcare value chain: from private equity firms
that fund private healthcare companies, to holding shares in those same
companies. They are Chairmen of companies who run NHS estates, are involved in
PFI deals, are partners in legal firms that seal those deals, advisers to
private hospitals, they also represent companies in pharmaceutical media,
medical equipment, care homes, lobbying, and health insurance. Full story...

7. Healthcare
Coup: The Lords didn’t save us the first time:In
early 2012 the Lords voted in favour of the Health and Social Care bill, the
final step in turning it into an Act. As the Lords sat in the house to debate
and vote on the bill, research conducted by Social Investigations revealed
the Lords were riddled with private healthcare interests across all parties.
Despite these recent or present financial links to private companies involved
in healthcare, they were allowed to debate and vote. Full story...

8. Unhealthy Influence: The Rise ofthen
NHS Partners Network: The transformation of a small
private healthcare trade association into a powerful and influential lobby
group provides a clear indication of the direction the NHS has taken.Today the NHS Partners Network has some of
the most powerful private healthcare companies as members and is a trustee on
the NHS Confederation board. Social Investigations journalist Andrew Robertson
examines the development of one of the best-connected and most persuasive
privatisation cheerleaders. Full story...

9. Tax Haven? No Contract: The
message proffered by David Cameron when he spoke at the World Economic Forum in
Davos was tax avoidance would become a priority of the UK’s presidency
for this year. In reality, the government acts in the opposite manner, rewards
those companies who channel money to tax havens with further contracts paid for
by the taxpayer. Full story...

10. Rights for Shares: No
Mandate, Unwanted Rejected: George Osborne has maintained his stance to weaken
worker protections in exchange for shares. In doing so he exposes himself as
utterly undemocratic, and highlights the need for the unions to regain some
strength. Full story...

11. Healthcare Contracts Connecting
Lords and MPs and Their Companies: This list represents private healthcare companies
that are financially linked to Lords and MPs from all parties that have won
contracts since the government announced the white paper Equity and Excellence:
Liberating the NHS, which in turn led to the Health and Social Care Act. Full story...

12. Lord
Help Us – Tory Donor Made Peer Reveals A Broken System: When it was announced that John Nash would become a
life peer of the House of Lords, I added his name to the list
of over 200 parliamentarians who have recent past or present financial links to
companies involved in healthcare. Full story...

13. Labour Used Virgin ‘Restricted’
Report to Open NHS to Healthcare Companies: A hitherto restricted report
commissioned by Labour back in 2000 has revealed how Virgin overstepped their
remit – advice on improving customer service in the NHS - by promoting an
increase in the use of private companies. Further inclusions written into the
report by mystery authors also reveal a fledgling policy idea that would later
become part of Virgin’s expansion into the healthcare market. The document also
sheds light on New Labour’s wider programme of marketising the NHS – the job
the Coalition has now seen to conclusion. Full story...

14. Half Billion Tax Haven
Transfer: A private outsourcing company who are in receipt of one of the
highest government spends have channeled over half a billion pounds into an
offshore tax haven. One of the group of company directors, part-funded David
Cameron’s leadership campaign in 2005 with two £10,000 payments. Full story...

Monday, 1 July 2013

New
research conducted by Social Investigations has revealed a Head Hunter firm with
financial links to a Conservative Baroness has been able to gain revenue
directly from changes that took place because of the Health and Social Care Act
on which the Baroness voted. Furthermore, the Chairman of the company has
funded the Conservative party in a process that changes the NHS from within.

Baroness Bottomley is the Chair of the Board and CEO practice of Odgers
Berndtson and also holds shares in their holding company Broomco Ltd.

The
head hunter company works in thirteen industry areas including Healthcare, and
been heavily involved in vetting key personnel into the new NHS

Their website boasts of their ‘unparalleled reach across the NHS, (and) private
sector healthcare...(which) enables us to attract inspirational candidates
others might never find.’

A
key part of the Health and Social Care Act was to move commissioning
responsibility for NHS services from Primary Care Trusts to the newly formed
Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs).